Regina returns to awareness. She isn't sure where she is, or how much time has passed. She isn't able to see, or move. She can feel she is suspended upside-down by her feet and swaying back and forth, and that her arms are bound tightly to her sides, and that she is also bound tightly at the feet and at the knees. She can feel there is something wrapped around her upper face... a blindfold.
The only thing she's certain of is that there is a pain in her chest, right over her heart. Where she was stabbed... staked, really, by Ramon, using that wooden knife of his.
A growl of hatred escapes her mouth, but otherwise she is silent, listening, learning, smelling, trying to determine where she is, how many are around, and how soon seh can escape.
Regina doesn't hear anything, other than the creak of chains as she swings back and forth, but when she wills her dead lungs to breathe, she catches a scent of cologne... something exotic, spicy.
After a bit, she hears Ramon's voice. His smooth voice, not the one he used as he staked her.
"Ah, yes, you are smart. Quiet, paying attention... hoping to learn something that might allow you to survive this. I suppose one should expect this stoicism and calm of someone who bears such fine swords. Sadly for you, that won't be of any help, but it is nonetheless admirable. But rest assured, your weapons find an appreciative owner in me, and something of you will live on inside me as well."
She doesn't hear him move or get up, but she feels a light push against her back - between the shoulder blades - that sets her to swinging back and forth a bit.
"I will devour your soul, my sweet," Ramon says. "And in doing so, I will show demonstrate to my followers that I possess a power akin to that of a dark god. So, for this I thank you."
Regina stays silent for a short while, planning out her move. very very careful she must be. And very very lucky.
"Ahh yes, you will gain great power oh dark ggd. But i wonder if you are fully aware of the price?"
((Can/has Regina feel Ramon's Beast?))
So far, Regina has not been able to detect Ramon's beast at all, so she is unaware of its strength.
"The price, ahhhh yes," Ramon says. "I have not yet paid that price, but I am aware of it, and will readily pay it in exchange for the power I will attain. And soon those who worship me will watch as I attain that power."
"Oh yes, the great power." She gave a little sarcastic laugh. "And what will you do with this power? Control your 5 mortal puppets? Oh, perhaps you'll expand out, maybe 20? Of course, that is assuming that you actually gain any power from me. You have already demonstrated that your speed is no worse than mine, and i do not posses your degree of mind control. So in effect, all you will gain yourself is my voice in your head; one that will you will never escape. But you of course know all about that..." She smiles a wicked smile. She will enjoy tormenting his soul.
Lie lie lie lie lie. Scare him, confuse him, keep him talking.
Ramon is silent for a few moments, then he chuckles. "You use your mind, rather than pleading, and try to turn my mind against me. This is clever... it speaks well of you. It will be an honor to drink the soul of one so able to keep calm in the face of doom. As to what I will gain... I know there will be something... some bit of knowledge, some trick of the blood."
"And how do you know that? Would it not be hillarious, to learn that you have a paid a king's ransom for nothing more than a bauble of my memories?" She chuckles.
"Perhaps I can give you some instruction. It was my job to be a teacher. It would actually be quite distressing to give you nothing in exchange for my life. How is your swordwork?"
"My swordwork is quite good, thank you," he says, boastfully. "As to how I know... I study people. The way they move, the way they speak. You have the moves of a skilled fighter, and your accent, the way you speak, are those of someone much, much older than your appearance, and I know that any of our kind that live for long years would have had to learned some useful things to have survived so long.
"I don't know what I will find as I dredge through who you were, but I know there will be something there of value... and that it is my destiny to gain this jewel."
As he speaks, Ramon's voice becomes more impassioned, almost operatic in its grandiosity. She already knew he was full of himself, but hearing this, Regina realizes Ramon may be more than a bit insane as well.
Ramon waits for a time for Regina to respond, but when she says nothing, he gets bored. "My followers will gather soon, to see me devour your soul and step all the closer to godhood. I must prepare, so I will leave you for now, to contemplate your fate."
He again gives Regina a push, making her swing back and forth as she hangs upside down, and she hears him ascend some creaky stairs, and a door close behind him.
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